The European Union is giving €215 million for Bulgaria, to invest in the development of tourism in the country.

An agreement has been signed by the National Tourism Board (NTB) and the National Association of Municipalities in Republic of Bulgaria to state where the EU funds would be used and when. Projects hoping to get money from the funds are still waiting for final approvals.

It’s expected that Bulgaria will see the first implementations of the approved projects in April.

Those seeking a holiday in the sun will be pleased to hear that new flights have been announced from Manchester to Spain, and Leeds to Turkey.

Bmibaby has added Barcelona, Madrid and Lisbon to its flight routes departing from Manchester airport. The new routes will start operating in June, Madrid and Barcelona will be served four times a week and Lisbon twice a week.

Goldtrail Holidays will increase its flight frequency to Turkey this summer from Leeds Bradford International Airport (LBIA). Flights to Dalaman and Bodrum will depart twice a week, and once a week to Antalaya, taking people on a holiday in Turkey.

After four years of Simplifying the Business programme, all paper tickets for flights will be gone by June 1, 2008. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) have started their countdown to a 100% e-ticketing air travel.

“In 97 days the paper ticket gets put in a museum. On June 1, 2008 we will achieve 100% electronic ticketing,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO, on Monday February 25, 2008.

When IATA started its programme in 2004 only 18% of the air tickets issued around the world were e-tickets, now over 93% of tickets are electronic. Africa and Russia are the remaining problem areas where e-ticketing did not get underway as early as it did elsewhere, but IATA officials are confident that they can reach the 100% e-ticketing goal by June 1.

“E-ticketing is the flagship project of Simplifying the Business. While a paper ticket costs US$10 to process, e-ticketing reduces that cost to US$1. The industry will save over US$3 billion each year by offering the passenger a better service,” said Bisignani.

Holiday markets are growing and new holiday destinations are emerging, but holidays in Spain remain the top choice for British holidaymakers, according to online travel agency Holidays-Direct.co.uk. With city breaks, Barcelona is the top choice along with other old favourites, but new city break destinations are emerging too.

Brits typically start searching for holiday destinations four weeks before they book a holiday. And it’s holidays in Spain and city breaks in Barcelona that they are most interested in, according to online travel agency Holidays-Direct.co.uk.

Other top interests are holidays in Greece, Tenerife and Lanzarote, and the favourite city break destinations following Barcelona are Rome, Dublin and Venice. This is based on the most viewed destinations on www.holidays-direct.co.uk and www.citybreaks-direct.co.uk.

Jon Pearce from Holidays-Direct.co.uk says: “We all know that Brits love holidays in Spain, they have been a favourite for years, as have holidays in Greece. There are plenty of cheap holidays available in both destinations. The other top 10 holiday destinations are the Spanish islands (the Canaries and Balearics) as well as the Caribbean, Tunisia and Sharm el Sheikh.”

While city breaks in Barcelona top the Citybreaks-Direct.co.uk most viewed list, and city breaks in Rome, Dublin and Venice follow, it’s evident that new cities are beginning to attract Brits too. City breaks in Prague and Krakow make the top 10 as seventh and fifth respectively.

“Many of our customers are getting more interested in the Eastern European cities, there is so much to discover and they are so different from cities in Western and Southern Europe. City breaks in Krakow are fifth most viewed on the Citybreaks-Direct.co.uk website.

“Both Krakow and Prague are filled with historical and cultural sights, which will keep holidaymakers busy not just for a short break but for a longer holiday too.

“And people don’t necessarily want to go that far for a short break; city breaks in Dublin and Edinburgh are also very popular. Both cities are so easy to get to but still offer a change from home, a quick break from everyday life which is what city breaks are all about,” Jon Pearce explains.

The top holiday destination on Holidays-Direct.co.uk (based on most viewed pages)

1. Spain
2. Greece
3. Tenerife
4. Lanzarote
5. Sharm el-Sheikh
6. Cyprus
7. Malta and Gozo
8. Caribbean
9. Tunisia
10. Fuerteventura

The top city break destinations on CityBreaks-Direct.co.uk (based on most viewed pages)

1. Barcelona
2. Rome
3. Dublin
4. Venice
5. Krakow
6. Jersey
7. Prague
8. Edinburgh
9. Berlin
10. Florence

This February, the most popular type of holiday is a city break in Europe. Almost 40% of people surveyed by American Express said they were going abroad to visit a European city.

One of the reasons February is so popular for city breaks, is Valentine’s Day and so many couples wanting to take a romantic short break.

About 14% of the surveyed said they were planning a family holiday, five per cent are taking a spa getaway and only three per cent said they were going on a ski holiday.

British holidaymakers are becoming ‘lobby snobs’ as they tend to choose a hotel based on design and facilities rather than location and price.

According to a new survey, two in three British holidaymakers say the furnishing, facilities, and good service in a hotel are more important than cost.

A series of surveys of thousands of UK and European holidaymakers also showed that a new trend rising – the “superbreak”. People are willing to take short breaks as far as Hong Kong and South Africa to get the most out of their time off from work.

People also try to maximise their annual leave by taking time off around bank holidays to take a longer holiday.

The survey was conducted by travel site Expedia.co.uk

Holidays in Florida have yet another thing to offer – Disney World will open an American Idol attraction in 2008. Guests at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park can audition in video kiosk, and possibly win a chance to try out in the next stage.

They get to perform in front of Disney’s Hollywood Studios producer for a chance to be cast in a theme park show. The person with the highest number of votes gets to compete in the Grand Finale at the end of the day. The winner receives a guaranteed reservation for a stadium audition.

“Millions of people have imagined themselves standing on the ‘American Idol’ stage. We’re excited that we will be bringing this dream to life every day at Walt Disney World,” Jay Rasulo, chairman of Disney Parks and Resorts says.

For business travellers, Moscow is the most expensive destination in the world, as hotel room prices have gone up 93% since 2004. New York has the second most expensive hotel rates in the world.

The biggest rise in hotel room prices last year happened in Mumbai, were prices soared 37% in just one year, according to a survey by Hogg Robinson Group (HRG), a travel management company.

The HRG Hotel Survey compared hotel prices in 50 business cities. Only ten percent of the cities saw hotel room rates decline - Philadelphia, Bangalore, Tokyo, Bristol and Liverpool.

The US and Australia have made an agreement to allow ‘open skies’ for air traffic. The agreement means that US and Australian airlines can fly from any destination in one to any in the other, depending on demand from passengers.

“Airlines from both countries will be allowed to select routes and destinations based on consumer demand, without limitations on the number of U.S. or Australian carriers that can fly between the two countries or the number of flights they can operate,” a U.S. Department of Transport statement said.

Australian airline Qantas welcomed the change by announcing it will increase its flights to the US from 48 a week to 51 in March.

The new cruise ship from MSC Cruises, MSC Poesia will be christened by Sophia Loren on April 5. The star studded event will take place in Dover, and it’s the first time an MSC Cruises ship will be launched outside of Italy.

The ship’s new music hall will see performances from Andrea Bocelli and KT Tunstall, as well as jazz singer Peter Grant. And the launch party will continue onboard the ship through the night with BBC Radio One DJ Fearne Cotton.

Claudia Baino, Managing Director at MSC Cruises UK, said: “Christening the MSC Poesia in the UK will provide the opportunity for both the local trade and media to experience firsthand what MSC cruises is all about and allow us to demonstrate the true spirit of our company. It is indeed a very exciting time within our company’s growth and development plans for the UK market.”

One of the main reasons Brits say they wouldn’t take a cruise holiday is being stuck with the other people on the cruise ship, according to a recent poll by Cruise Critic.

The nationality that the Brits find most annoying on a cruise holiday is Americans. Almost half of the people surveyed said they would not want to be stuck with Americans on a cruise. 21% said they find other Britons most annoying, and the other annoying nationalities are Germans, Italians, French and Russians.

Cruise Critic Editor-in-chief Carolyn Spencer Brown said: “This survey is a bit of fun and in fact most cruise travellers are far too busy enjoying themselves to worry about their fellow companions.

“Modern cruise holidays on big ships involve a plethora of entertainment, activity and dining options, meaning that you are very unlikely to be stuck with anyone you don’t want – unless of course, it’s the better half.”

To control the growing problem with lost luggage, airport operator BAA and the Dubai based airline Emirates have started a new hi-tech luggage tracking test.

All luggage on the Heathrow – Dubai route on Emirates planes will be tagged with an electronic chip in a six month trial. The new technology will use radio frequency identification (RFID) to follow the bags on their way.

About 300,000 bags are expected to be involved in the test, where the electronic chips attached to the bags include passengers name and the route they are flying on.

“This trial enables us to embrace the latest technology for the benefit of our customers. The volume of baggage processed at airports is increasing with more people around the world flying each year,” said Vic Sheppard of Emirates.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic will refund passengers who were onboard their flights between 11 August 2004 and 23 March 2006.

In a class action suit in the US, the two airlines were accused of price-fixing fuel surcharges. The two airlines have agreed to pay all passengers on their flights refunds that are one third of the fuel surcharge they were originally charged.

All together the companies will pay around $203 million in refunds. The agreement still needs to be approved by the courts in the US.

“As we have previously said, we absolutely condemn any anti-competitive activity by anybody,” BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh said in a statement.

“This settlement, which British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have jointly agreed with the lawyers for the plaintiffs, is fair and reasonable,” he said.

In a statement Virgin Atlantic said it “deeply regrets its involvement in this matter and believes the provisional settlement reached now draws a line under this episode.”

The US is demanding tougher security checks from those taking a holiday in the US. Passengers from 14 European Union countries can currently travel to the US under the visa waiver program, but recent demands from the US Department of Homeland Security have sparked fears that the program might be stopped.

The US says it wants armed guards on all transatlantic flights, and pre-flight information from passengers via an online form.

EU has said it will also impose stricter policies to American passengers heading to EU countries if the US stops the visa waiver program.

Returning from Christmas holidays has inspired about 5 million Brits to book a holiday for this year during January.

It’s expected that about 30 million people will go on a holiday abroad during 2008, and 16% have already made their bookings. Nearly 2,000 people were interviewed face to face for these results.

Main reason for booking holidays early is being tempted by a great holiday deal (16%). Another big reason is to have something to look forward to (14%), and for 12% it is just a habit.

The survey was conducted by TNS Travel and Tourism.

Austria has launched a new brand campaign, with images of iconic Austrian symbols and a simple catchphrase “It’s got to be Austria”.

The Austrian National Tourist Office says long term qualitative and quantitative analysis has been done before launching the new campaign.

“We wanted to translate the brand’s characteristics into visual words that are understood by our target groups and even more, are felt emotionally,” said Ariane Tockner, responsible for brand management.

Tanzania is hoping to attract more sports tourists to take a holiday in Tanzania, as it opens a new ultra-modern sports stadium. The $56 million stadium can hold 60,000 people and has been built to FIFA and Olympic standards.

It is expected that sports tourists will be heading to Africa in 2010 as South Africa hosts the World Cup Tournament. The whole region is expecting to benefit from people travelling down for the football. There are daily flights from South Africa to Tanzania.

Much of the funding for the new Dar Es Salaam Stadium came from the Chinese government.